For Monsters: A Witcher Fan Fiction Short Story
by Lewis Stockton
Summary: Geralt picks up a contract to stop some sort of monster attack on caravan convoys. What he finds is a simple job for a Witcher, kill the monster. However, a simple job turns complicated when the lines of what a monster is become muddled.


_This is a short story that can be set anywhere in the Witcher timeline. It plays on the idea that Geralt, even though he hunts monsters, sometimes has to hunt different kinds of monsters._

Hope you enjoy it. I will continue to publish work on here and my website, if you're interested, check out my other Witcher posts on here and any other of my fan fictions or even short stories on my website.

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 **For Monsters**

Geralt had entered the town about three days ago and had already finished a job; hunting down and banishing a spectre. Now Geralt was hoping to take some time off before going to the next village or perhaps even going to Novigrad.

"Geralt of Rivia?" asked a tall man, dressed in some fine wear that quickly pointed him as a noble or perhaps a high class merchant.

"I am." Geralt nodded slowly, pushing his drink to the side to allow the man to sit down at the table with him. The tavern was bustling and Geralt had taken a quiet corner; putting his swords on the bench beside him where he was sat back with his beer and meal.

"Thank you, oh bar keep! A beer please" The man laughed softly and plopped himself down in the seat opposite Geralt. "I hear you are a man of business so I will get straight to the point. Are you available for a contract?"

Thinking about it for a few seconds, Geralt nodded to the man. "Depends on the contract."

"It is a simple job, well, I'd call it a simple job but I do not know much about hunting monsters." The man explained, "Let me introduce myself, I am Steneis Racenelli, the owner of Rancenelli's Trading Company, a mercantile shipping company; we transport along land and sea but have had a problem with a land route recently.

"Could help with that, it could be a number of things; not including bandits of course, your average run of the mill deserter and bandit" Geralt explained, tearing off a piece of meat from the chicken bone and throwing it into his mouth.

"Oh this is not bandits my friend, the damage, the butchery. Above what a normal man is capable of, even the heinous and horribleness of the lawless.

"I will look into it, I do have to talk about my payment" Geralt asked, looking down at the food as he picked up a slice of lettuce and put it into his mouth.

"I will pay what ever your going rate is, I am a business man and I know that my business is being hurt badly by this. I should haggle, I should barter and trade my way to a lower price but we're both businessmen of one kind, out to get coin" he chuckled, putting a small bag of Redanian Crowns. "There are two hundred there, call it an investment. I want what ever is doing this dead and gone."

"Alright, give me a map of the route and I'll travel it, checking for anything. If I find anything, I'll come to your office and find you" he explained.

And so, that was it, Geralt was on the road again, riding Roach slowly down the main road between Rimbe, where he had been staying, and Vizima, he had been doing this for three days now. The first day he took it on a morning and got to Vizima by mid-afternoon. The Second day he set off midday and arrived by night at Rimbe and finally doing the journey now at night.

He had found nothing yet and but had made a small bit of coin with a side job involving collecting certain herbs and plants; they were pretty obvious ones and did not even require him to search, only to keep an eye out for certain coloured plants.

Watching the road ahead of him, Geralt spotted someone running and sat back in the saddle, unbuckling the strap on of his back scabbards two holes down to allow an easy draw of one of the two blades.

"Help! Help!" The man began to yell as he hurried over the moment he spotted Geralt. "Monster! Monster!"

Geralt urged forward Roach until he was beside him. "Where is this monster. I am a Witcher"

The man pointed behind him. "Back there. I am part of a convoy… we were shipping goods from the city and were attacked. There are more back there. I'm sure our employer will pay you to help! You have to save them"

Geralt quickly kicked Roach into gear and charged forward. He soon came upon the caravan pretty quickly and it was obvious that the group had been travelling in some size; ten or twelve bodies were already cut open and either dead or dying around the carts. Some had stood their grounds to defend the goods while some had fled, both were cut down pretty quickly. It seemed that not even those who stood their grounds could defend themselves from what had torn into them.

Jumping off Roach and slapping the horses rear to get him out of the area. Geralt looked around slowly, taking in the scenery around him.

"Did Daryl send you?" A man asked, running over and bringing up his shield in the direction he'd come from.

"About… this high, brown hair, pissed his pants?" Geralt asked, holding his hand just short of himself.

"Ya… he did piss himself" He laughed softly. "The thing went that way, some sort of giant wolf, but it ran like a man."

Geralt sighed, "Lycanthrope… Werewolf"

"Yea must have been, but I ain't no Witcher. Its your job to kill monsters, I only have to guard caravans from bandits."

"Alright, you stay here with the caravan and the wounded. Keep them all together and look out for Ghouls, they'll be attracted by the blood" Geralt explained and knelt down, poking his finger into a footprint and stood up to full height.

"Lets hunt" he mumbled to himself and took out into the tree's.

Taking slow steps through the tree's and underbrush, Geralt was sure where he stepped and doubly made sure not to snap any stray twigs or dry underbrush. Geralt could be sneaky but even a single stray noise could bring the monster down on him.

When he found more bodies, Geralt knew he was on the right track; by the splatter pattern and the way the bodies had been dragged, he found a small cave. Slowly entering the cave, Geralt enlarged his irises to allow himself to see more in the dark.

"Where are you" Geralt whispered to himself quiet and was answered by a long and loud roar. He'd spoken on purpose, the werewolf had hearing just as good as Geralt and he knew that if the thing knew a hunter was on its way into its lair then it would come out.

"Who… arrrre you?" a voice growled from around Geralt, the walls of the cave echoing the voice of the beast, a perfect lair to sneak up on any fool to enter after it.

"I am Geralt of Rivia, the White Wolf and also known as the Butcher of Blaviken to some. I am a Witcher, there is a contract for you." Geralt explained, circling around as he brought his silver blade up to the side of his head, allowing the blade to sit horizontal along his line of vision, leaving just enough for his eyes to look over the blade.

"Little ol'me?… I have done nothing to diserrrrrrve this hunt" The beast chuckled a meaty laugh. "I only hunt those who enter my feeding grrrround…"

"Are you the one who has been attacking the convoys?"

"Perrrrhaps… they brrrring meat… beerrrrr, mead" the wolf-man laughed and growled loudly.

"Then you are the one I am hunting" Geralt stated simply.

"Perrrrhaps… you arrrre the one I am hunting? Gerrrralt of Rrrriva" With that long last growl of Geralt's full name, the beast charged, jumping out of cover of a large rock and pounced on Geralt.

Geralt had spotted it at the last minute and span on his left heel and swung his sword in a quick slash. He managed to deflect the claws of the wolf-man and turned so that he could narrowly avoid the snapping maw.

Diving under the wolf man and swinging up his blade, the White Wolf and the Werewolf met, clashed, slashed and cut before parting. This occurred several times as they met, parted and then met again.

"You arrrrre good… Witcherrrrr… It will be pleasing to devourrrr you." The wolf-man laughed softly.

"I don't know about that, but were going to end this pretty quickly." Geralt spoke softly, watching the beast in front of him.

"It's in here!" came a noise from the cave entrance, Geralt cursed, the damn guards from the caravan.

"Morrre meat for the pot" The wolf man laughed and turned to charge out the door, but Geralt took the opportunity and darted forward, with two quick slashes, he'd cut down the back of the werewolf. The beast snarled and turned back to attack Geralt but he'd found his advantage and was pushing it, with several more slashes and parries of the claws, Geralt was cutting down the beast.

Finishing off the beast with a blast of the Aard sign, throwing the beast against the back wall of the cave.

"Wow, we came right at the right time… We were going to help you kill the beast. It killed my friends" the leader of the group who came down the cave entrance spoke, laughing and patting his fellows as he saw the beast in the corner, crawling on its last legs.

"I was paid to do a job and I am doing it, being here is risking your lives and mine" Geralt told them, keeping his eye and blade on the beast, it could heal rapidly and he didn't want to get caught in this.

"Alright then, kill it… it's a beast after all, a monster, kill it and be done with it." One of them called out.

Geralt shook his head. "A werewolf is a cursed creature. A human or humanoid who has been changed by a curse or some sort of magic. If I can, I can turn them back" Geralt explained but knew it was pointless the moment the leader of the men spoke in reply.

"But it butchered my men, kill it, it's what it deserves"

"Perhaps, but if there is a chance to save another life, I will take it." Geralt turned and knelt down over the creature, just out of reach of its claws if it decides to attack.

"Look, I can help you" Geralt told him. "A Witcher doesn't just kill, if they did, you would be dead right now, I can cure you, if you help me"

"Why are you talking to it. Kill it!" The men snarled, raising weapons.

"Why arrrre you trrrrrying to help me?" The werewolf growled.

"Because I am a Witcher, I've been paid to end the problem." Geralt replied with a soft smile.

"Then kill me" the wolf man snarled.

"It wants to die, kill it!" The men hissed and got closer.

"Back off" Geralt hissed. The men jumped and brought their weapons up.

"If you wont kill it, we will" the men hissed and jumped forward. Geralt turned and drew the other sword on his back; standing with one aimed aimed up in the direction of the men while the other he held backhanded and gripped upside down, the blade following the contour of his arm up to the elbow.

"Back…off" Geralt spoke slowly.

"He's a monster-lover… he's a monster too, a mutant, he wont kill the beast" one of the men was urging the others on from the safe distance of several feet back and protected by at least five men between him and Geralt.

"I have been paid to do a job, and I will do my job" Geralt told them simply, but the men took their decision.

"He wont do it, he'll kill us then let the beast go… take him!"

The fight only lasted five seconds but Geralt killed all eight men. The first two to charge were cut down by a single slash, pirouetting into the next cut, Geralt brought his silver sword up and sliced the throat of one man unlucky enough to not duck in time.

The fourth man was hit by the returning steel sword, bisected from the collarbone to the ribs in one clean cut by the master-crafted meteorite steel sword. Letting the silver sword drop from his hand and stick blade down into the ground, Geralt lifted his hand up and cast the Igni sign, torching the fifth and sixth man with a solid stream of fire. The room filled with the scent of burning flesh and back lit the walls with an array of conflicting shadows.

The seventh man tried run but was cut down by Geralt throwing his silver sword, gripping the blade and throwing it over-arm blade first into the running man; spearing him like a boar on the hunt.

"You freak, you'll pay for this" the leader of the group snarled, bringing his blade up in a defencive stance. Geralt sighed and brought his blade up too.

"I didn't want to do this, you brought this on, remember that."

"I thought you killed monsters… you're just like that wolf-man there"

"I do kill monsters" Geralt spoke calmly, taking a single step forward. This action made the man in front of him take action, slashing his blade and with a single step back by Geralt, opened him up to a killing blow.

The blade cracked the man's skull open and killed him instantly.

"You… killed them" The werewolf groaned from the floor, still regenerating from the damage he had taken.

"I did" Geralt sighed and put away his steel sword and retrieved his silver.

"Why? They wanted me dead, you want me dead" the werewolf questioned, confused.

"I do it my way, they would have torn you apart, hacked like a lumberjack felling tree's. I am a professional, you deserve to die with honour and dignity." Geralt replied with a small smile.

"I…cannot be cured. I did something horrrrrrible in my past, and… I do not want to rrrrreturrrrn to that" the werewolf mumbled quietly.

"Then I will kill you" Geralt nodded and walked over, raising his blade in just the right place.

"Thank you" The werewolf groaned and closed its eyes.

"So you did the job? The convoy's will not be disturbed?" asked Steneis Racenelli, the owner of Rancenelli's Trading Company and the man who had hired Geralt.

"It is done" Geralt replied simply, standing at the desk of Rancenelli's Trading Company's Vizima branch office.

"Great! Here is your payment as promised" the man dropped a considerably bulky purse on the table. "A shame about my last convoy, you say no survivors?"

"Regrettably" Geralt nodded, not lying but walking the truth.

"Shame, I knew the men on that team well. They will be missed. Good day to you Geralt, I hope we meet again, it was nice doing business with you"

"And you too Mr Racenelli" Geralt replied, shaking the man's hand.

"Just call me Steneis." The man replied and waved Geralt off as the Witcher walked out the door, jumped on Roach and took off for the next village and the next job; forever walking the path.


End file.
